Posted By Karin Kloosterman On October 16, 2008 @ 1:25 pm In | No Comments

See you in court: AllRise aims to be a huge success in the US.Who doesn’t want their day in court? Now with the new website AllRise, you’ll get it without the hefty legal fees. Built for entertainment purposes, and expected to give rise to real and impacting debates and public opinion surveys, four young Israeli high-tech entrepreneurs are hoping it will keep the public better informed, and engage the world in both sides of complicated issues, such as environmental affairs.

You can sue your boyfriend, wife, boss or even God, says Erez Eden, 31, the co-founder of AllRise, based for the time being in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Eden and his partner Dan Rimon came up with the idea while working as user experience designers for websites in Israel.

A number of issues in Israeli society got their goat so they brainstormed a platform that could have an impact on the issues they cared about. One of their peeves was that talkbacks on popular online newspaper articles didn’t really engage people in a useful and meaningful debate, since comments were added sequentially and often included slanderous or derogatory remarks.

Closing a vacuum in public debate

Another issue that they wanted to see solved was a lack of continuation or follow-up by the media during important court cases, or even ones that were shelved and solved by lawyers before going to court. “There is a huge vacuum for the public and they want closure. It is important for society to have a debate,” Eden tells ISRAEL21c.

Founded this year, AllRise is still in beta testing mode, but Eden and his team expect it will be a hit in America, where people routinely sue each other; Americans also like to follow high-profile court cases and AllRise will be a platform where they can share thoughts and opinions.

You can sign up under your own name, a friend’s, or as the People, then describe your case in writing, even sending it to the person or group you want to “sue,” for their defence. People can join the prosecution or defense by arguing online, or they can write a response to one another’s defense or argument. Eventually, a verdict based on public opinion is reached.

Featured in TechCrunch, the leading online magazine for high-tech companies and startups calls AllRise a civilized way to settle disputes.

Smarter than a comments system

“It’s a smart system, much more than a forum or comments system,” says Eden, allowing for a true two-sided debate. And he agrees that this need for debate and discussion is probably part of the Jewish DNA.

While Israel did have a version of the People’s Court on TV back in the ’80s, says Erez, Israelis debated on different things than in the US version – such as the freshness of cucumbers bought in the local market. “It must have had high ratings because we only had one channel at the time,” he says, noting that later it was the TV show LA Law that really made a big impression on him.

Getting ready for the public launch and looking for investment, expect decent and intelligent debates at AllRise. Malicious and racist comments will be taken down, and spammers beware, because the AllRise platform will weed you out.

And AllRise won’t be limited to the company’s website – along with the launch, the company expects to release a widget version for you to start your own cases on your blog or website. See you in court!